


Second Chances

by The_German_Grim_Reaper



Category: Avengers infinity war part 1, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: And the bad guys but don't be sad about that, Everybody Lives, Fix-It, Gen, Happy Ending, PTSD (kinda?), Peter Parker Lives, Peter is super helpful, They Win, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, but that's not really touched on much, if you don't love him I cry, peter has flashbacks, peter parker time travels, well except Gamora I guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-05-04 12:09:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14592729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_German_Grim_Reaper/pseuds/The_German_Grim_Reaper
Summary: Peter Parker was dead.  He knew that much, at least.  So why did he wake up?Peter gets a second chance and he's not going to waste it.





	Second Chances

**Author's Note:**

> Not edited... I kept slipping into present tense so if you see a mistake let me know and I'll fix it.

_“Mr Stark, I don’t feel so good.”_

  
It wasn’t supposed to hurt, was it? It was supposed to be quick, painless, alive one second and dead the next. And it _didn’t_ hurt, not really, but it felt wrong and numb and he could feel himself turning to dust. And he was begging, pleading for another chance, crying as he faded into nothing.

  
But it wasn’t nothing. Was it? It could have been an eternity or it could have been instantanious, but suddenly Peter knew there was something. He strained his eyes against the darkness- did he have eyes? Was it even dark?- and could barely make out a tiny pinprick of green. It was glowing, getting brighter and closer until it was all around him.

  
On a schoolbus in New York, Peter Parker woke up.

____________________________________________________________________________________

  
He woke up with a gasp, looking around at his surroundings with wild eyes. He had a million questions but he was breathing too fast to speak. Even his thoughts weren’t coherent in his head.

  
He reached out blindly, trying desperately to calm himself down. Was this the afterlife? Was he doomed to spend eternity in a... schoolbus? All things considered it wasn’t the _worst_ place to end up- at least the bus was relatively clean-

  
“Peter?” That was Ned. Okay, Ned was here. It would be a pretty shitty afterlife without his best friend.

  
_Ned_. It took a moment for that to hit him. It hadn’t just been them that turned to dust? People on Earth had died too? His _friends_ had died?

  
“Peter, what’s wrong?” Ned was asking in a hushed voice. “Is it superhero stuff? Are you okay?”

  
Well, that was a loaded question. Peter focused on his voice, pulling himself back to the present. _Stop panicking. That won’t help._

  
“Ned,” he asked in a carefully controlled tone, “where are we?” Because if Ned remembered dying, he would be freaking out. And since he wasn’t freaking out, he didn’t remember, which meant...

  
“On the bus.” Ned frowned, studying his face intently. “We’re going to the museum- did you have a nightmare or something? Dude, seriously, what’s wrong?”

  
“Or something.” Peter echoed. After a moment of hesitation, he continued. “But this was hours ago. I was on Titan- we were fighting-”

  
And then the memory of his death crashes down again, and he stops talking because he doesn’t trust himself not to burst into tears. But if he’s back on that bus, before everything happened, maybe this is a second chance. They were dealing with cosmic level powers and real life _magic_ , so maybe time travel isn’t a fantasy? Dr Strange (Peter had never caught his real name. He wishes he’d had a chance to ask) had talked about the Time Stone. Maybe that had...?

  
“What are you talking about?” Ned glanced around, and lowered his voice even further. “Did you have a vision or something? Can spiders do that?”

  
“It wasn’t a vision.” Peter replied, running through the possibilities in his head. “It was real.”

  
“ _What_ was real?” Ned asked.

  
Peter felt the hair on his arm stand up. “That.” He looked out the window, where he knew the spaceship would be. Sure enough, there is was, in all its donut-shaped glory.

  
“Holy _shit_.” Ned breathed.

  
“I need a distraction.” Peter told him. Because if he had a second chance at this, he’d need to use every last second.

  
Ned nodded, leaping into action immediately. “We’re all gonna _die_!” He shouted, moving toward the back of the bus and pointing out the window. “There’s a _spaceship_!”

  
With everyone distracted, Peter leapt out the window and swung through the air. He remembered this, remembered that by the time he got there it was almost too late. He’ll be faster this time.

  
He got there as the fight began. Mr Stark, Dr Banner, Dr Strange, and a different wizard guy were standing together as the giant alien charged. He knew he should focus on the big one- that’s what happened last time, right? Peter knew how to stop the skinny one once they’re on the ship. But he wasn’t sure what happened to the giant, so he should deal with that first.

  
“Peter?” Mr Stark asked, sounding surprised. “What are you doing here?”

  
“Saving the universe.” Peter told him. “We have a _lot_ to talk about.”

  
And then he swung into action, ignoring Mr Stark’s demands to _explain exactly what you meant, right now, Peter_.

  
The fight was over soon, this time. Peter was there from the beginning, he knew where to strike and how to stay out of reach. It wasn’t the best he’d ever fought- he was still shaky from everything and the memories were too fresh. But he knew what he was doing and he did his job. And by the time he ended up near the other wizard- Wong?- he had a plan.

  
“Hey, dude!” He greeted, dropping on the ground next to him as the giant charged. Wong shot him a look. “How far away can you make those portal things go?”

  
“Far enough.” He replied curtly, already beginning to spin his hands.

  
“Does it have to be somewhere you’re been before?” Peter asked, knowing they only had moments. He _really_ hoped this plan was going to work.

  
“No. Any ideas?”

  
“How about the vacuum of space?” Peter suggested casually. Wong’s eyes widened, and then his portal opened.

  
The giant ran straight into it, vanishing as he failed to stop his charge. Wong sealed the portal behind him. “I was thinking the Himalayas, but that works too.”

  
“Glad I could help.” Peter grinned, before spotting Dr Strange’s cape out of the corner of his eye. He turned to see that the other alien had captured the wizard and was beaming him onto the ship.

  
“Save the wizard!” Mr Stark was yelling through the comms. Peter sighed- like he even had to ask. He would have done the same thing, with no encouragement, even without the knowledge that was running through his head.

  
Peter shot a web, latched on to the captive wizard. There was something in the back of his mind, something he couldn’t quite remember- oh. “Mr Stark, there’s not gonna be much oxygen up there.” He warned.

  
Mr Stark cursed. “I’ll send you a suit.” He promised. “I’m right behind you.”

  
And so Peter ended up in the ship again, hidden in the shadows as Maw prepares to torture Dr Strange. This time, he didn’t fall. He wasn’t afraid anymore. Of Thanos, of turning to dust again, of failing to save them, yes. But he wasn’t afraid of falling. And for now, that was enough.

  
“I told you to go home.” Mr Stark was angry, angrier than Peter had ever seen him. But he was scared, too, scared that Peter would get hurt and it would be his fault. Peter hadn’t seen that before. Now that he wasn’t scared for himself, it was easier to read other people.

  
“If Thanos wins, I’m gonna die either way.” Peter tells him. “Might as well go out fighting.”

  
Fighting would have been better. A heroic death, in the middle of a battle. A meaningful death. Instead, Peter had faded. He had turned to dust and it hadn’t _meant_ anything. Not a damn thing.

  
“What are you talking about?” Mr Stark removed his faceplate, peering into Peter’s eyes. “What happened?”

  
“I promise I’ll tell you everything.” And he would. All of the important things, anyway. Mr Stark didn’t have to know what it felt like to die or how empty it had been after or how the memories kept threatening to take over his head. “After we save the wizard.”

  
Mr Stark studied him for a moment longer before nodding. “Alright, kid. Got a plan?”

  
Peter allowed himself to smile. He did have a plan. “Have you ever seen that really old movie, Aliens?”

____________________________________________________________________________________

  
And they saved the wizard, and Maw died. Just like last time. It wasn’t as close a call this time (Peter made sure of it) but it was still enough to make the memories come back. Dust. It took everything he had not to freeze up.

  
After, when his feet were back on the floor and they’d fixed the hole in the side of the ship, he allowed himself to be afraid. They had dealt with the foot soldiers, now it was time for the final boss. Dr Strange’s words echoed in his mind: _“We’re in the endgame now.”_

  
“Peter.” Mr Stark turned to him. “Explain.”

  
Peter took a shaky breath. He wasn’t quite sure what to say. _Thanos killed everybody and I’m from the future? I died and I’m still not sure if this is real?_ They would think he was insane.

  
“Peter.” Mr Stark prompted again.

  
“I think I travelled in time.” He blurted out. Mr Stark didn’t react, but behind him, Dr Strange went still.

  
“This isn’t a time to be joking around.” Mr Stark sighed.

  
“I’m not joking,” Peter argued, at the same time as Dr Strange said, “He’s not joking.”

  
“Aliens, sure. Wizards, fine. But time travel? Peter...” Mr Stark trailed off. “You’re serious. How...?”

  
“I, uh.” Peter wasn’t sure what to say. “We fought Thanos. We lost. And then I woke up on the bus.”

  
“You had a dream?” Mr Stark clarified.

  
“It’s more likely that he truly did travel in time.” Dr Strange corrected. Looking at Peter, he said, “You knew how to fight the aliens, you knew you’d run out of oxygen, you knew how to kill Maw. You’ve lived this before.”

  
“Yeah.” Peter nodded. “But things are already a bit better- I mean, we got Maw before he tortured you, and I’m pretty sure I got your friend to kill the other alien too, so...”

  
“But time travel? How is that even possible?”

  
“The Time Stone.” Peter explained, looking at Dr Strange’s necklace. “When I was... there was this green light. I think it was the Time Stone.”

  
“Why you? Why would I send _you_ back in time?” Dr Strange asked.

  
Peter scowled. That was uncalled for. “I don’t know if it was you.” He admitted. “Thanos had the Stone at that point. It was all kind of a mess.”

  
“But you must have been sent back for a reason.” Dr Strange paused, considering. “You said we lost. How bad was it?”

  
Peter met his gaze evenly. “Bad.” _Dust. Everyone was dead and all that was left was dust. And then he was fading, and then there was nothing._

  
Dr Strange nodded. “Then how do we stop Thanos?”

____________________________________________________________________________________

  
They landed the ship- it still crashed, this time, but at least less disastrously- and the Guardians appeared. This time, Peter was quick to explain things. They were all on the same side and there was no time for infighting.

  
“Don’t kill us, we’re after the same guy.” Peter shouted, webbing Star-Lord’s gun away from him. “We all want Thanos dead.”

  
“How do we know we can trust you?” Star-Lord asked suspiciously.

  
Peter took a deep breath and began to explain.

  
“You’re saying you’re from the future?” Star-Lord asked. He didn’t sound like he believed Peter.

  
“Yeah. Yeah, I am. And we need to work together if we’re want to stop Thanos.” Peter nodded. “We almost did it last time.”  
“Why did we lose?” Mantis asked. She seems so innocent, too young to be fighting for life itself. Then again, Peter supposed, that’s probably how everybody else saw him.

  
“Good question.” Mr Stark was also looking at Peter. He hadn’t stopped, really, since the revalation of time travel. He was so protective, it almost hurt. _God, you really are my dad_.

  
Peter looked at Star-Lord, trying not to wince. It felt unfair, dropping this kind of news and expecting him to react well at all. But they couldn’t wait for him to find out. That hadn’t ended well.

  
“Why’re you looking at me? What did I do?” Star-Lord asked, eyes widening and looking defensive.

  
“Look, man, I’m sorry.” Peter began. “Your girlfriend-” He didn’t know her name. After everything, he didn’t even know her name.

  
“Gamora.” Oh, that was her name. “Where is she?” He was angry now, and Peter could already see this going badly.

  
“I’m sorry.” Peter repeated. He could see the exact moment Star-Lord realized.

  
“ _No_.”

  
“I’m-”

  
“Don’t you _dare_ tell me you’re sorry.” Now Star-Lord was having a meltdown, punching the wall and shouting. “You have no _idea_ what I’ve been through-”

  
Peter could see Mr Stark getting ready to defend him. He wouldn’t need to. “What _you’ve_ been through?” Peter interrupted. He’d been trying to stay calm, but honestly that just wasn’t working. “A few hours ago, I _died_. I _was dead_. And so was half of the _universe_ , probably including just about _everybody_ I care about, so don’t you _dare_ act like I haven’t lost anything.”

  
There were several moments of silence as everybody processed his words. Peter was breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath, and knew he was probably about to start crying.

  
“S- sorry.” He added quietly, already regretting his show of emotion.

  
There was another moment of hesitation. Peter didn’t dare look up- he didn’t want to see what they thought of him after that outburst.

  
And then there were arms around him, pulling him into a hug. It was a bit uncomfortable (Peter knew without looking that it was Mr Stark; armor wasn’t exactly an ideal hugging material) but got the point across. “Don’t be sorry, kid.”

  
“I shouldn’t have-”

  
“Why didn’t you tell us you died?” Mr Stark interrupted him.

  
At that, Peter actually did look up. “I didn’t tell you?”

  
Mr Stark’s expression was answer enough.

  
“It was implied.” Dr Strange was the one to actually answer. Peter and Mr Stark both turned to look at him. “You said that Thanos won- the odds that you would have survived such an event are minimal.”

  
“We all died.” Peter added, still trying to suppress tears. “Well- I don’t think you did, Mr Stark, but everybody else. It was bad.”

  
That was the understatement of the century. “Sorry I shouted at you, kid.” Star-Lord apologized awkwardly, voice cutting through the silence that had fallen over the ship.

  
“Yeah. We should, ah, make a plan.” Peter changed the subject, wiping his eyes.

  
“We mostly just wing it.” Star-Lord (and did Peter still not know his real name? He was really bad at this) admitted. Seeing Peter’s face, he added, “But we can try. To avoid, you know, all of that stuff.”

  
“I have a plan.” Drax announced. “I will _destroy_ Thanos.”

  
“Uh, that’s great, Drax, but maybe we should have a bit more of a plan.” Star-Lord told him. “Any other ideas?”

  
“If we all died last time, maybe we should not have that same plan.” Mantis added.

  
“It almost worked last time. None of us actually died in the battle, so we should be okay.” Peter explained.

  
“If we didn’t die in the battle, when did we die?” Star-Lord asked.

  
“After.” _A dark ship, someone snapping her fingers- “Just like that.”_ Peter tried to clear his head. That wasn’t even a memory, he hadn’t- well, anyway. “There was only one stone left after he got the Time Stone. He must have found it because a few minutes later we were turning to dust.”

  
Mr Stark gave him a sympathetic look. He wasn’t hugging Peter anymore (when had he stopped?) but was still standing protectively next to him. “So if we stop him getting the time stone, none of us die.”

  
“Yeah.” Peter agreed. “We’ll need Mantis to put him to sleep while we get the glove off, and then we should be able to kill him.”

  
“Did that work last time?” That was Star-Lord.

  
“We almost had the glove off. Then you got some bad news and- oh, there’s gonna be someone else there, she’s on our side so don’t freak out.”

  
“Who?”

  
“Your, uh, sister-in-law?” Peter guessed. “Sorry, I’m really bad with names.”

  
“Gamora and I aren’t married.” Star-Lord argued immediately.

  
“But you know who I’m talking about, right? The blue lady? With all the metal?”

  
“Nebula, yeah. She wants to kill Thanos just as much as we do. She’ll help.”

  
“Yeah. So I know the rest of the plan, all we need to do is figure out a faster way to get the glove off.” Peter told them.

  
“Why do we need to get it off?” Mantis asked, with that same complete innocence.

  
“The gems give him power, with them on we won’t even be able to hurt him.” Dr Strange explained.

  
“But why don’t you just cut his hand off?”

  
Peter blinked. He hadn’t considered that. “That... might work. If you’ve got him sleeping and we can do it fast enough...”

  
“If it hurts too much it may wake him up.” Mantis warned.

  
“But if we can do it before he has time to react, we might have a chance.” Mr Stark realized. “Anybody got anything faster than a laser?"

  
Behind him, Dr Strange smiled. “I might have an idea.”

 

____________________________________________________________________________________

  
And so they defeated Thanos, destroyed his gauntlet, and headed back to Earth. It hadn’t been hard at all to cut off his hand, not once Dr Strange made one of his portals and they put Thanos’s arm through it. After that, it had been almost easy to defeat him.

  
The first thing Peter did when his feet hit the ground was call Aunt May. He didn’t know if she had dusted in the other timeline, or for that matter if MJ or Ned had either. But they were safe now, and that was all that mattered. He would have hated himself forever if they had died (he had been given a second chance and hadn’t even said goodbye!) but it was better this way. The universe had been saved, almost nobody had died, and nobody had to know what could have been.  
“Mr Stark is calling.” Karen told him cheerfully, a week after the battle.

  
“Put him on.” Peter nodded, finishing webbing up the mugger he’d been dealing with. He swung up to a rooftop just as Mr Stark’s voice came over the line.

  
“ _Hey, Peter._ ”

  
“Hey, Mr Stark! Uh, what’s up?”

  
“ _I know this is a pretty big question, so you don’t have to answer right away, but_ -”

  
“Is there another invasion? Is the world ending again?” Peter demanded, already picturing the (horrifying) possibilites.

  
“ _What? No.”_

  
“Oh. Okay. What were you gonna ask?” Peter asked, trying to hide his embarrassment.

  
“ _Do you want to be an Avenger?_ ”

**Author's Note:**

> It took me so long to finish this (I barely had the energy to edit!), so sorry if anything is confusing.
> 
> At one point, you might notice that Peter remembers a scene he wasn't there for (Gamora's "just like that") but I actually do have an explanation for that! Kind of. Thanos had the Soul Stone by the time he fought Peter, and as I agree with the theory that Gamora is somehow inside of the Soul Stone, I think that the memory sort of bled through that way? I don't know but it makes sense in my head.
> 
> Please review and let me know if you have any questions!


End file.
